Cinema 1988: You Must Remember This–Movies, Events, Stars, Oscars, Box-Office, Hollywood

Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1988 as Movie Year

Top-Grossing Films of 1988

Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross
1 Rain Man MGM $354,825,435
2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Buena Vista $329,803,958
3 Coming to America Paramount $288,752,301
4 Crocodile Dundee II $239,606,210
5 Twins Universal $216,614,388
6 Rambo III TriStar / Carolco $189,015,611
7 A Fish Called Wanda MGM $188,597,000
8 Cocktail Buena Vista $171,504,781
9 Big 20th Century Fox $151,668,774
10 Die Hard $141,500,000

Events

May 25 –

Rambo III is released as the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million. The film fails to match the box office earnings from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).
June 26 – Michael Keaton is first announced[5] to play comic book superhero Batman in a forthcoming feature film to be directed by Tim Burton and co–starring Jack Nicholson as Batman’s arch nemesis, The Joker.[6]
July 15 – Die Hard defies low commercial expectations to gross $141.5 million worldwide. Hailed as an influential landmark in the action film genre, it influences a common formula for many action films in the 1990s, featuring a lone everyman against a colorful terrorist character who is usually holding hostages in an isolated setting.
September 19 – English character actor Roy Kinnear suffers a fall from a horse which will prove fatal while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, Spain.
October 10 – Batman officially commences filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.

October 27 – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is released on VHS and laserdisc; to combat piracy, the tapeguards and tape hubs on the videocassettes are colored green, and the tape itself is affixed with a small, holographic sticker of the 1963 Universal logo (much like the holograms on a credit card), and encoded with Macrovision. In North America alone, VHS sales come to $75 million.[8]
December 16 – Rain Man is released to critical and commercial success and becomes the highest grossing film of 1988 worldwide with a gross of $355 million. Winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture, it is the last MGM title to be nominated for Best Picture until Licorice Pizza (2021) 33 years later. Giancarlo Parretti and Max Théret acquire a 52% stake in Pathé.[9]

Awards

61st Academy (Oscars) Awards, March 29, 1989

Best Film: Rain Man
Best Director Clint: Barry Levinson, Rain Man
Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man
Best Actress: Jodie Foster, The Accused
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda
Best Supporting Actress: Geena Davis, The Accidental Tourist
Best Screenplay, Adapted Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal
Running on Empty Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Christopher Hampton
Dangerous Liaisons
Best Screenplay, Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow, Rain Man
Best Original Score:
Best Original Song: Working Girl N/A “Let the River Run”Working Girl
Best Foreign Language Film: Pelle the Conqueror

Festivals:

Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Fest): Pelle the Conqueror, Bille August, Denmark
Golden Lion (Venice Film Fest): The Legend of the Holy Drinker, Ermanno Olmi, Italy-France
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Fest): Red Sorghum, Zhang Yimou, China

Deaths

Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films
January

Jan 1 Marcel Hillaire 79 Germany Actor
SabrinaMurderers’ Row
7 Michel Auclair 65 France Actor
The Day of the Jackal, Beauty and the Beast
7 Trevor Howard 74 UK Actor
Brief EncounterMutiny on the Bounty
8 Boyd Morgan 72 US Stuntman, Actor
Dirty Harry, Spartacus
10 Hugh A. Robertson 55 US Film Editor, Director
Midnight CowboyShaft
16 Ballard Berkeley 83 UK Actor
National Lampoon’s European VacationStage Fright
19 Bridget Boland 75 UK Screenwriter
War and PeaceAnne of the Thousand Days
19 Cary Odell 77 US Art Director
From Here to EternityCool Hand Luke
25 Colleen Moore 88 US Actress
The Power and the GloryThe Scarlet Letter
February 1 Marcel Bozzuffi 58 French Actor
The French ConnectionZ
1 Heather O’Rourke 12 US Actress
PoltergeistPoltergeist II: The Other Side
5 Emeric Pressburger 85 Hungary Screenwriter, Director
The Red ShoesBlack Narcissus
8 Allan Cuthbertson 67 Australia Actor
The Guns of NavaronePerformance
14 Frederick Loewe 86 Germany Composer
GigiThe Little Prince
28 Asakazu Nakai 86 Japan Cinematographer
Seven SamuraiRan
29 Sidney Harmon 80 US Producer, Screenwriter
Man CrazyThe Talk of the Town
March 1 Joe Besser 80 US Actor
Africa ScreamsLet’s Make Love
3 Lois Wilson 93 US Actress
The Covered WagonMiss Lulu Bett
5 Alberto Olmedo[12] 54 Argentina Actor, Comedian
Los caballeros de la cama redondaLas Aventuras del Capitán Piluso en el Castillo del Terror
6 Jeanne Aubert 82 France Actress
La PossessionMirages
7 Divine 42 US Actor
Pink FlamingosHairspray
7 Robert Livingston 83 US Actor
The Three MesquiteersThe Lone Ranger Rides Again
12 DeWitt Bodeen 79 US Screenwriter
Cat PeopleI Remember Mama
12 Karen Steele 56 US Actress
MartyRide Lonesome
13 Steno 71 Italy Director, Screenwriter
An American in RomeBanana Joe
13 John Holmes 43 US Actor
InsatiableFantasm
13 Olive Carey 92 US Actress
The SearchersThe Alamo
27 Renato Salvatori 55 Italy Actor
Big Deal on Madonna StreetTwo Women
31 Manuel Silos 82 Philippines Actor, Director
Blessings of the Land
April 1 Jim Jordan 91 US Actor
Look Who’s LaughingThe Rescuers
5 Alf Kjellin 68 Sweden Actor, Director
Assault on a QueenIce Station Zebra
6 John Clements 77 UK Actor
GandhiThings to Come
7 Albert S. Rogell 86 US Director
In Old OklahomaThe Black Cat
11 Jeff Donnell 66 US Actress
In a Lonely PlaceGidget Goes Hawaiian
11 Jesse L. Lasky Jr. 77 US Screenwriter
The Ten CommandmentsSamson and Delilah
15 Kenneth Williams 62 UK Actor
Carry OnThe Hound of the Baskervilles
21 I. A. L. Diamond 67 Moldovia Screenwriter
Some Like It HotThe Apartment
22 Irene Rich 96 US Actress
They Had to See ParisThe Champ
28 Andrew Cruickshank 80 UK Actor
El CidThe Cruel Sea
May 1 Paolo Stoppa 81 Italy Actor
The LeopardOnce Upon a Time in the West
4 Tom Overton 58 US Sound Engineer
Star Trek: The Motion PictureA Star Is Born
5 George Rose[13] 68 UK Actor
A Night to Remember Hamlet
12 Paul Osborn 86 US Screenwriter
East of EdenSayonara
15 Andrew Duggan 64 US Actor
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Seven Days in May
15 Greta Nissen 82 Norway Actress
Red WagonThe Luck of a Sailor
18 Daws Butler 71 US Voice Actor
Mary PoppinsHey There, It’s Yogi Bear!
18 Anthony Forwood 72 UK Actor
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.Knights of the Round Table
18 Christopher Gore 43 US Screenwriter, Fame
21 Barbara Laage 67 France Actress
The Happy RoadParis Blues
22 Tom Adair 74 US Lyricist
JulieSleeping Beauty
29 Vladimír Menšík 59 Czech Republic Actor
September NightsThree Wishes for Cinderella
30 Ella Raines[14] 67 US Actress
Brute ForceHail the Conquering Hero
June 2 Raj Kapoor[15] 63 India Actor, Director, Producer
AwaaraMera Naam Joker
16 Kim Milford 37 US Actor
LaserblastCorvette Summer
18 Wilford Leach 58 US Director, Screenwriter
The Wedding PartyThe Pirates of Penzance
19 Teru Shimada 82 Japan Actor
You Only Live TwiceTokyo Joe
22 Dennis Day 77 US Singer, Actor
I’ll Get ByGolden Girl
22 Stuart Randall 78 US Actor
Pony SoldierNaked Alibi
July 1 Alice Nunn 60 US Actress
Pee-wee’s Big AdventureMommie Dearest
2 Aldo Tonti 78 Italy Cinematographer
Nights of CabiriaReflections in a Golden Eye
7 Jimmy Edwards 68 UK Actor
The Bed-Sitting RoomThe Plank
12 Joshua Logan 79 US Director, Screenwriter
Mister RobertsPaint Your Wagon
22 Milton Krasner 84 US Cinematographer
All About EveAn Affair to Remember
22 Patrick Newell 56 UK Actor
Young Sherlock HolmesBecket
25 Judith Barsi 10 US Actress
The Land Before TimeJaws: The Revenge
25 Douglas Hickox 59 UK Director
Theatre of BloodZulu Dawn
27 Larry Clemmons 81 US Animator, Screenwriter
The Jungle BookThe Aristocats
31 Trinidad Silva 38 US Actor
ColorsUHF
August 1 Florence Eldridge 86 US Actress
Inherit the WindLes Misérables
2 Robert Emmet Smith 73 US Art Director
King RatOperation Petticoat
5 Colin Higgins 47 France Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Harold and Maude9 to 5
5 Ralph Meeker 65 US Actor
Kiss Me DeadlyThe Dirty Dozen
7 Wilfred Jackson 82 US Animator
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsFantasia
8 Alan Napier 85 UK Actor
Joan of ArcBatman
10 Adela Rogers St. Johns 94 US Screenwriter
What Price Hollywood?A Free Soul
11 Anne Ramsey 59 US Actress
The GooniesThrow Momma from the Train
17 Victoria Shaw 53 Australia Actress
The Eddy Duchin StoryEdge of Eternity
19 Don Haggerty 74 US Actor
Cause for Alarm!Footsteps in the Night
23 Jack Sher 75 US Screenwriter, Director
The Kid from Left FieldFour Girls in Town
24 Leonard Frey 49 US Actor
Fiddler on the RoofWhere the Buffalo Roam
26 Milton Sperling 76 US Screenwriter
Battle of the BulgeThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
27 Charles Farrell 88 Ireland Actor
Night and the CityThe Crimson Pirate
September 1 Hugh Hunt 86 US Set Decorator
Ben-HurJulius Caesar
5 Gert Fröbe 75 Germany Actor
GoldfingerThe Longest Day
6 Harold Rosson 93 US Cinematographer
The Wizard of OzSingin’ in the Rain
12 Stephen B. Grimes 61 UK Production Designer
The Way We WereOut of Africa
14 Louis Quinn 73 US Actor
All the President’s MenOcean’s 11
15 Samuel E. Beetley 74 US Film Editor
The Longest DayDoctor Dolittle
20 Roy Kinnear 54 UK Actor
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryWatership Down
21 Henry Koster 83 Germany Director, Screenwriter
HarveyThe Bishop’s Wife
21 Christine Norden 63 UK Actress
Mine Own ExecutionerThe Black Widow
30 Chick Chandler 83 US Actor
Seven Doors to DeathHideout
October 1 Lucien Ballard[16] 84 US Cinematographer
The Wild BunchThe Killing
1 Pavle Vuisić 62 Serbia Actor
Battle of NeretvaDoktor Mladen
4 Margaret Lacey 76 UK Actress
Diamonds Are ForeverThe Ruling Class
6 Don Terry 86 US Actor
Who Killed Gail Preston?Unseen Enemy
9 Edward Chodorov 84 US Screenwriter
Road HouseKind Lady
11 Morgan Farley 90 US Actor
The Winner’s CircleHigh Noon
11 Bonita Granville 65 US Actress
Nancy Drew… DetectiveThese Three
12 Ken Murray 85 US Actor, Producer
The Man Who Shot Liberty ValanceSon of Flubber
13 Melvin Frank 75 US Screenwriter, Director
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream HouseRoad to Utopia
14 Mary Morris 72 Fiji Actress
The Thief of BagdadUndercover
19 Lawrence W. Butler 80 US Special Effects Artist
CasablancaThe Caine Mutiny
24 Valerie Taylor 85 UK Actress
RepulsionWent the Day Well?
25 Eric Larson 83 US Animator
Alice in WonderlandThe Jungle Book
27 Charles Hawtrey 73 UK Actor
SabotageThe Ghost of St. Michael’s
31 John Houseman 86 Romania Actor, Producer
The Paper ChaseRollerball
November 1 George J. Folsey 90 US Cinematographer
Forbidden PlanetAdam’s Rib
2 Lukas Heller 58 Germany Screenwriter
The Dirty DozenWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
3 Sidney Carroll 75 US Screenwriter
The HustlerA Big Hand for the Little Lady
6 John Hubbard 74 US Actor
One Million B.C.The Tall T
9 Billy Curtis 79 US Actor
The Wizard of OzHigh Plains Drifter
15 Mona Washbourne 84 UK Actress
My Fair LadyCasino Royale
27 Angela Aames 32 US Actress
ScarfaceBachelor Party
27 John Carradine 82 US Actor
StagecoachThe Grapes of Wrath
December 7 Christopher Connelly 47 US Actor
BenjiMove Over, Darling
7 Dorothy Jordan 82 US Actress
The Searchers70,000 Witnesses
8 Anne Seymour 79 US Actress
All the King’s MenField of Dreams
15 Maria De Matteis 90 Italy Costume Designer
War and PeaceThe Bible: In the Beginning…
10 Richard S. Castellano 55 US Actor
The GodfatherLove with the Proper Stranger
10 Dennis Arundell 90 UK Actor, Composer
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp”Pimpernel” Smith
17 Jerry Hopper 81 US Director
The Private War of Major BensonPony Express
21 Bob Steele 81 US Actor
The Big SleepThe Colorado Kid
22 Tucker Smith 52 US Actor, Dancer
West Side StoryThe Producers
24 Noel Willman 70 Ireland Actor
Doctor ZhivagoThe Man Who Knew Too Much
26 Julanne Johnston 88 US Actress
The Thief of BagdadDame Chance
26 John Loder 90 UK Actor
Now, VoyagerSabotage
27 Hal Ashby 59 US Director, Film Editor
Harold and MaudeBeing There

Film Debuts
Joe Alaskey – Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Tim Allen – Tropical Snow
Stephen Baldwin – Homeboy
Ned Bellamy – The Night Before
Annette Bening – The Great Outdoors
Patrick Bergin – Taffin
Lara Flynn Boyle – Poltergeist III
Benjamin Bratt – Lovers, Partners & Spies
Reg E. Cathey – Funny Farm
Macaulay Culkin – Rocket Gibraltar
Vondie Curtis-Hall – Coming to America
Matt Damon – Mystic Pizza
Benicio del Toro – Big Top Pee-wee
Stephen Dillane – Business as Usual
David Duchovny – Working Girl
Kevin Dunn – Mississippi Burning
Nora Dunn – Working Girl
Richard Fancy – Sunset
Colm Feore – Iron Eagle II
Iain Glen – Paris by Night
Cuba Gooding, Jr. – Coming to America
Clark Gregg – Things Change
Jess Harnell – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Danielle Harris – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Neil Patrick Harris – Clara’s Heart
Jane Horrocks – The Dressmaker
Felicity Huffman – Things Change
Marceline Hugot – Working Girl
Bonnie Hunt – Rain Man
Milla Jovovich – Two Moon Junction
Jenifer Lewis – Beaches
Jane Lynch – Vice Versa
Marc Macaulay – Graverobbers
David Morrissey – Drowning by Numbers
Dermot Mulroney – Sunset
Clive Owen – Vroom
Vincent Pastore – Black Roses
Harold Perrineau – Shakedown
David Hyde Pierce – Bright Lights, Big City
Oliver Platt – Married to the Mob
Bruce Ramsay – Pin
Noomi Rapace – In the Shadow of the Raven
Alan Rickman – Die Hard
Katja Riemann – Faust – Vom Himmel durch die Welt zur Hölle
Julia Roberts – Satisfaction
Stephen Root – Crocodile Dundee II
Richard Schiff – Medium Straight
Rusty Schwimmer – Memories of Me
Steven Seagal – Above the Law
Suzanne Shepherd – Mystic Pizza
Roger Guenveur Smith – School Daze
Lili Taylor – She’s Having a Baby
David Thornton – Diamond Run
Goran Višnjić – Braća po materi
Marlon Wayans – I’m Gonna Git You Sucka
Duane Whitaker – Deadly Dreams
Gregory Alan Williams – Above the Law